BILL NUMBER: AB 2129	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 21, 2006
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 5, 2006

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Spitzer
   (  Coauthor:   Assembly Member 
 Cohn   Coauthors:   Assembly Members
  Cohn,   Daucher,   Garcia,  
Haynes,   Maze,   Mountjoy,   and Wyland
 )
    (   Coauthor:   Senator   Dutton
  ) 

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2006

   An act to amend Section 527.9 of the Code of Civil Procedure,
relating to restraining orders.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2129, as amended, Spitzer  Restraining orders: relinquishment
of firearms.
   Existing law requires a person who is subject to a temporary
restraining order or injunction that prohibits certain forms of
harassment, violence, harm, intimidation, or abuse to relinquish a
firearm. If the person is present in court at a duly noticed hearing,
the court must order that person to relinquish the firearm, by
either surrendering the firearm to the control of local law
enforcement or selling the firearm to a licensed gun dealer, within
24 hours of the order. If the person is not present in court, the
respondent is required to relinquish the firearm within 48 hours
after being served with the order.  The person must file a
surrender receipt with the court within   72 hours 
 after  receipt of the order   . 
   The bill would instead require the person to surrender the firearm
within 24 hours of being served with the order without regard to
whether the person is present in court.  This bill would also
require the person to present a surrender receipt to the court within
48 hours after receipt of the order. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 527.9 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended
to read:
   527.9.  (a) A person subject to a temporary restraining order or
injunction issued pursuant to Section 527.6 or 527.8 of the Code of
Civil Procedure, or subject to a restraining order issued pursuant to
Section 136.2 of the Penal Code, or Section 15657.03 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code, shall relinquish the firearm pursuant to this
section.
   (b) Upon the issuance of a protective order pursuant to
subdivision (a), the court shall order the person to relinquish any
firearm in that person's immediate possession or control, or subject
to that person's immediate possession or control, within 24 hours of
being served with the order, either by surrendering the firearm to
the control of local law enforcement officials, or by selling the
firearm to a licensed gun dealer, as specified in Section 12071 of
the Penal Code. A person ordered to relinquish any firearm pursuant
to this subdivision shall file with the court a receipt showing the
firearm was surrendered to the local law enforcement agency or sold
to a licensed gun dealer within  72   48 
hours after receiving the order. In the event that it is necessary to
continue the date of any hearing due to a request for a
relinquishment order pursuant to this section, the court shall ensure
that all applicable protective orders described in Section 6218 of
the Family Code remain in effect or bifurcate the issues and grant
the permanent restraining order pending the date of the hearing.
   (c) A local law enforcement agency may charge the person subject
to the order or injunction a fee for the storage of any firearm
relinquished pursuant to this section. The fee shall not exceed the
actual cost incurred by the local law enforcement agency for the
storage of the firearm. For purposes of this subdivision, "actual
cost" means expenses directly related to taking possession of a
firearm, storing the firearm, and surrendering possession of the
firearm to a licensed dealer as defined in Section 12071 of the Penal
Code or to the person relinquishing the firearm.
   (d) The restraining order requiring a person to relinquish a
firearm pursuant to subdivision (b) shall state on its face that the
respondent is prohibited from owning, possessing, purchasing, or
receiving a firearm while the protective order is in effect and that
the firearm shall be relinquished to the local law enforcement agency
for that jurisdiction or sold to a licensed gun dealer, and that
proof of surrender or sale shall be filed with the court within a
specified period of receipt of the order. The order shall also state
on its face the expiration date for relinquishment. Nothing in this
section shall limit a respondent's right under existing law to
petition the court at a later date for modification of the order.
   (e) The restraining order requiring a person to relinquish a
firearm pursuant to subdivision (b) shall prohibit the person from
possessing or controlling any firearm for the duration of the order.
At the expiration of the order, the local law enforcement agency
shall return possession of any surrendered firearm to the respondent,
within five days after the expiration of the relinquishment order,
unless the local law enforcement agency determines that (1) the
firearm has been stolen, (2) the respondent is prohibited from
possessing a firearm because the respondent is in any prohibited
class for the possession of firearms, as defined in Sections 12021
and 12021.1 of the Penal Code and Sections 8100 and 8103 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code, or (3) another successive restraining
order is used against the respondent under this section. If the local
law enforcement agency determines that the respondent is the legal
owner of any firearm deposited with the local law enforcement agency
and is prohibited from possessing any firearm, the respondent shall
be entitled to sell or transfer the firearm to a licensed dealer as
defined in Section 12071 of the Penal Code. If the firearm has been
stolen, the firearm shall be restored to the lawful owner upon his or
her identification of the firearm and proof of ownership.
   (f) The court may, as part of the relinquishment order, grant an
exemption from the relinquishment requirements of this section for a
particular firearm if the respondent can show that a particular
firearm is necessary as a condition of continued employment and that
the current employer is unable to reassign the respondent to another
position where a firearm is unnecessary. If an exemption is granted
pursuant to this subdivision, the order shall provide that the
firearm shall be in the physical possession of the respondent only
during scheduled work hours and during travel to and from his or her
place of employment. In any case involving a peace officer who as a
condition of employment and whose personal safety depends on the
ability to carry a firearm, a court may allow the peace officer to
continue to carry a firearm, either on duty or off duty, if the court
finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the officer does not
pose a threat of harm. Prior to making this finding, the court shall
require a mandatory psychological evaluation of the peace officer and
may require the peace officer to enter into counseling or other
remedial treatment program to deal with any propensity for domestic
violence.
   (g) During the period of the relinquishment order, a respondent is
entitled to make one sale of all firearms that are in the possession
of a local law enforcement agency pursuant to this section. A
licensed gun dealer, who presents a local law enforcement agency with
a bill of sale indicating that all firearms owned by the respondent
that are in the possession of the local law enforcement agency have
been sold by the respondent to the licensed gun dealer, shall be
given possession of those firearms, at the location where a
respondent's firearms are stored, within five days of presenting the
local law enforcement agency with a bill of sale.